Carolina Caroline Review: Thrilling Love Story

Carolina Caroline will captivate you with the steamy, high stakes romance between Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner.

Now Director Adam Carter Rehmeier and writer William Thomas Dean IV bring audiences Carolina Caroline, which is a more traditional riff on Bonnie and Clyde. While this leads to a more predictable story than what Gyllenhaal came up with, what sets Rehmeier and Dean IV’s film apart is the electricity that Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner bring to the screen.

Samara Weaving has had an excellent 2026 so far with the birth of her first baby and the releases of Ready or Not 2: Here I Come, Over Your Dead Body, and Carolina Caroline. She’s unforgettable as convenience store employee turned lovesick criminal Caroline Daniels. It helps that Rehmeier and Dean IV have clearly given her character the most thought. We watch Caroline go from a naive young woman to calculating bank robber and more changes about her than her hairstyle. Weaving sells this character’s innocence which makes your heart break as you watch Caroline lose it. This isn’t a quick turn either; she’s slowly molded into another version of con artist Oliver (Kyle Gallner, of Smile 2) because she’s intoxicated by the rush of committing a crime and madly in love. 

Much like her, we’re left with no choice but to watch because the thrill of seeing Caroline and Oliver get away with their crimes creates an overwhelming feeling of joy. We’ve been lulled by Oliver’s words that most cons only impact faceless corporations, so why should we get mad at these two young people who are trying to make their lives better? Of course, Weaving and Gallner’s charms and fiery chemistry also have a lot to do with why we ignore that what Caroline and Oliver are doing is wrong. They’re phenomenal together and make the actions of their characters believable. Anyone would fall for Gallner’s mysterious, alluring Oliver, especially if that person was young and stuck in the middle of nowhere like Weaving’s Caroline. 

Once you fall under someone’s spell, there’s no telling what you’ll do to hold on to them and that’s exactly what happens to Caroline. She changes who she is and like Oliver, begins to get a kick out of crime which leads to their spree of robberies and cons across the southeast. Despite this, there are hints that no matter how much she loves Oliver, that sweet girl from the convenience store is still trying to hold on. Samara Weaving’s superb balancing act in Carolina Caroline makes this one of her finest performances. 

The Clyde to Weaving’s Bonnie is Kyle Gallner, who shines as Oliver. He makes the most of this role when William Thomas Dean IV doesn’t give him a ton to work with. We don’t learn much about Oliver, which leaves it to Gallner to be able to pull Caroline and the viewer in. He makes it happen with ease by using his magnetic smile and a smooth accent that could make telemarketing sound like an appalling profession. Not knowing much about Oliver is clearly an intentional choice and makes Gallner’s work that much better because you have no idea what this actor and character are going to do next. While I would’ve loved to know more about Oliver and we probably could’ve without lessening the impact of Gallner’s performance, this is still a solid character as written. 

Adam Carter Rehmeier and William Thomas Dean IV lean on Weaving, Gallner, and their chemistry to make this Bonnie and Clyde like tale work. Luckily for those two, those three elements are exactly why Carolina Caroline succeeds. Weaving and Gallner are spellbinding together, and they also create two characters who are individually compelling. Caroline and Oliver will capture your attention and never let you go. You’re going to feel what they feel which leads to some of the most emotionally impactful scenes that 2026 has to offer. 

With that said, Carolina Caroline does feature a fair bit of predictable writing. Caroline and Oliver are your typical Bonnie and Clyde archetypes which means their journey follows a pretty set path, though Dean IV makes a few changes. It’s rather unfortunate for him that even these changes lead to obvious outcomes. I managed to telegraph what was going to happen with Caroline and her mother (Kyra Sedgwick) to a tee because I’ve seen this scenario play out so many times in film and television. Even though it works for Caroline’s character arc and Weaving and Sedgwick deliver a powerhouse moment together, it’s not something fresh in a story that’s one or two inventive moments from being called an elite crime thriller. 

Having Weaving and Gallner at the top of their game does a lot for Dean IV’s writing and these two certainly elevate what we’re seeing into a really romantic, adrenaline filled time. Even if you know where it’s going, you won’t care, because Weaving and Gallner have hooked you in. You want to see what happens to Caroline and Oliver, but more importantly, you’re wondering how Weaving and Gallner will finish off their spectacular performances. 

Carolina Caroline overcomes its predictability and becomes a satisfying, stirring crime thriller thanks to exceptional performances from Samara Weaving and Kyle Gallner. Weaving goes three for three in 2026, delivering effective turns that feel unique from each other. Meanwhile, Gallner proves he can be a leading man in something other than the horror genre. They carry this film on their backs and are why you should give it a shot. They’re such a great pairing that you could watch this multiple times and their work wouldn’t lose its impact. 

Carolina Caroline will be released in US theatres on June 5, 2026.